LAND AIR SEA WARFARE
jsige7 SUMMARY Land Air Sea Warfare (abbreviated as LASW) is a real-time strategy game developed by Isotope 244. It is the sequel to Machines at War, expanding it by sea units. LASW was released in 2010 for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, iOS (iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad) and Windows Mobile. It features gameplay similar to other RTS titles like Command & Conquer: Red Alert, Age of Empires, StarCraft, Warcraft, and Supreme Commander. OFFICIAL SITES Homepage: www.isotope244.com/land-air-sea-warfare.html Wikipedia: wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Air_Sea_Warfare GAMEPLAY While the gameplay is reminiscent of the seminal Command & Conquer''series, it does not feature soldier units. The game revolves around establishing a base and fortifying it against attacks from other factions, who are played by the computer, as well as executing invasions of the enemy bases. To build a base and open production of military units, constant mining of ore and production of energy are crucial. There are three kinds of offense unit types (ground, air and sea units) as well as defensive units to protect the base. Both are produced in specialized factories and can be deployed in groups. New technologies can be researched and in total, the '''tech tree' contains over 100 structures and units to choose from. Among these are stealth aircraft and submarines for reconnaissance missions, aircraft to bombard enemy bases and helicopters for unit transports. In a game, literally thousands of units can be commanded simultaneously, resulting in epic battles. Specific tactics can be applied: land units can be hidden under trees for ambush attacks and tread marks left by enemy tanks can be scouted to their base. Unique mineral ores permit building of giant "Mega units" for more effective attacks. Each game is concluded by detailed statistics and graphs. CLIMATE TYPES The climate of the region affects only the visual appearance of the map. It determines number and distribution of trees, water, ground, etc. on the map. There exist four different climatic settings: * Grassland : ment for plains like land * Volcanic : for a nuked map of some sort * Tundra : for a ice like map * Desert : for outlands map LANDSCAPE TYPES & UNIQUE RESOURCES The game uses a random map system with several types of terrain. The landscape type of the game map determines which bases and units can be built, which strategies may be applied and which kinds of mineral ore resource may be found, in turn influencing which Mega units may be built later in the game. Primarily, ground based landscapes do not have the unique resources for naval Mega units, and primarily water based landscapes do not have the resources for land Mega units. In total, there are six different kinds of Unique resources: * Xephal, Crom, Isonium, Betniah, Rhoxia and Nuba VICTORY CONDITIONS The game can be customized with different conditions of victory: * Notes: ■ ICBM ... InterContinental Ballistic Missile UNITS AND BUILDINGS This section gives an overview of available unit types and their properties. ENGINEERING Most of these structures are destined for energy production, some are fortification structures and others for harvesting and storing ore. * Notes: ■ Tech ...... Tech-tree ■ Power ..... Power created (green) / required (red) ■ Terrain ... Terrain type BUILDINGS The majority of these buildings are specialized military unit production facilities, others upgrade technologies, create protective shields or enhance/jam viewing range. LAND UNITS All land units are produced in the Land Factory production facility. * Notes: ■ DPS ... Damage Per Second AMPHIBIOUS UNITS Amphibious vehicles can produced both in the Land Factory as in the Sea Factory production facility. AIR UNITS All air units are produced in the Air Factory production facility. SEA UNITS All sea units are produced in the Sea Factory production facility. DEFENSIVE UNITS Defense units are crucial to defend the headquarters. There are units effective against enemy Land, Air and Sea units. Some of these weapons require advanced levels in the tech tree. MEGA UNITS The "Mega Units" are gigantic weapons that allow for very effective attacks. However, they cost more than normal units, take more time to build, require development of the tech tree up to level 3 and specific unique mineral ores to be harvested in special mines. TECHNOLOGIES New Technologies can be researched in three distinct research facilities: * Looking Glass - 10 different upgrades of Sea units * Orchid - 11 different upgrades of Land units * Tempest - 9 different upgrades of Air units TECHNICS Ingame graphics are based on raster graphics (i.e., bitmaps). The game engine renders fog and water as strips instead of tiles which increases its rendering performance. RECEPTION The game has received positive reviews, notably from these magazines: ■ AppModo ■ Pocket Gamer ■ Touch Arcade ■ Phone Blog ■ Touch My Apps ■ iPhone Life Magazine REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS * Land Air Sea Warfare on isotope244 - official homepage * Land Air Sea Warfare Help File